Staging the ‘Reality’ of Dementia

Gibson, Janet

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46547-6_4

Dementia, Narrative and Performance 2020

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46547-6_4

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Staging the ‘Reality’ of Dementia

Janet Gibson

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2024

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“…The (re)presentation of dementia narratives through active art forms matters; yet, as this book explores, there are fine lines to be drawn between what is the ‘right kind’ or ‘wrong kind’ of dementia story in terms of performance intention, delivery, and reception (Gibson, 2020). Including dementia narratives within theatre performances, however, is not necessarily enough on its own.…”

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Book review: The loss of small white clouds: Dementia in contemporary performance

Ward

2024

Dementia

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Morgan Batch's timely book The Loss of Small White Clouds (2024) is a comprehensive exploration of 11 dementia-centred theatre performances staged in the Global North since the 2010s, which draw on familial, clinical, socio-cultural, political, communal, experiential, (non)spatial, religious, and interior dementia narratives. Batch challenges outdated stereotypes about the realities of living with dementia by spotlighting dementia narratives that lead the story, performance and (re)presentation. From traditional to radical, spoken word to more-than-verbal, tragedy to ownership, conventional plot to non-linearity, characters arcs to destabilisation, fairytale to realism to crude dystopiathe chosen performances are considered by Batch for their dramaturgy, themes, and broader messages about dementia. The book not only discusses how these dementia stories are portrayed, but also who the creative force or data source is behind them, be it autobiographical, research-informed verbatim theatre, or works informed by medical professionals or creative practitioners. Taken as a whole, this is a substantial undertaking but one that Batch artfully achieves through careful consideration of theatrical composition and subject matter.The Loss of Small White Clouds is organised into three principal parts. In Part 1, Batch delves into micro to macro dementia narratives through three separate chapters, moving from internalised renderings of reality, time, and selfhood, to the positionality of dementia voices through professional care and wider socio-political contexts. Chapter 1 explores internalised (re)presentations of dementia, uncovering how the liveness of theatre can depict, defy and layer (non)reality and (non) linearity to subsequently foreground stories "about people living with dementia and their retained, if transformed, selfhood" (page 23). Simultaneously, the chosen performances touch on symptomology by addressing changes in coherence of spoken word and memory recall. Ideas of anachronism raised by Batchnot belonging to the time within which they are situatedlead the reader to question whether 'living out of time' is a representative or empowering way of demonstrating individualised dementia experiences. Chapter 2 analyses one example of researchinformed educational verbatim theatre which explores dementia in an institutional care setting, albeit with a humanising quality applauded by Batch. This production plays on contentious themes of loss of skills, liability, and personhood, while leaning on voices of family and care workers in discussing who people with dementia 'were' or 'are'. Chapter 3 closes Part 1 with an exploration of a dystopian performance considered by Batch for its insights into generational discourse, portrayals of ageism, and political detachment from public health, thereby contextualising the interior experiences of dementia within wider society.

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confidence: 99%

Book review: The loss of small white clouds: Dementia in contemporary performance

Ward

2024

Dementia

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Staging the ‘Reality’ of Dementia

Cited by 1 publication

References 28 publications

Book review: The loss of small white clouds: Dementia in contemporary performance

Book review: The loss of small white clouds: Dementia in contemporary performance

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